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On his weekly show on CNN, GPS: The Global Public Square, Fareed Zakaria has a segment titled ‘What in the world?’ that explores an unusual or unexpected series of events or a unique situation.   It is often amusing, usually entertaining, and always educational.   I am borrowing from Fareed’s staple and will ask: What the hell is going on in America?   Our 235 year old country isn’t at a crossroads as much as it is in new territory.   A territory that is filled with economic and geopolitical threats but also great opportunity.   The question is whether America can adapt to this new world order and accept its new leadership position. Over the course of those 235 years, America has been engaged in large scale wars, police actions, skirmishes, a cold war, regional conflicts, and at times imperialistic conquest.   Domestically, we have had our own rebellions and fought a bloody civil war to save our precious union.   We have had riots, domestic terror, il...

The latest Quinnipiac University Poll in the battleground states of Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania included some interesting bits of info that the media did not cover.   Sure the MSM was all about telling us how President Obama is leading all of the GOP rivals in all three states, but it is important to drill down deeper into the demographics and results.   Let’s get started: Demographics ·          Florida: 1,228 respondents , margin of error +/- 2.8% o    71% white o    Balanced split amongst D, R, I o    Balanced split between college degree and not o    Plurality (47%) over 65 years old o    Plurality earning 50-100k o    53% are women ·          Ohio: 1,246 respondents, margin of error +/- 2.8% o    83% white o    Balanced split amongst D, R, I o    56% with no college degree o    Pl...

A moment of what the hell. I have been reading a lot of complaints about the Hunger Games; ranging from the casting, the story, the wardrobe, and so forth.   Let me say I have neither read the book nor seen the movie, but I do know it’s FICTION.   Get over it people.   These complaints are as insipid as the complaints that the security soldiers in Avatar wore the same style camouflage as US Marines and therefore the movie was anti US troops. FICTION!   There are so many other things to get upset over. Which brings me to the Republican party’s love affair and sole dependence of fear and hate on which to build a platform.   Stand Your Ground, SB1070, union demonization, drug testing welfare recipients, excessive imprisonments, threats to the 2 nd Amendment, the Sharia boogeyman, DOMA, and so on and so on.   This demagoguery and emotional pandering to the most primal of instincts of fear and hate is right out of the Nazi playbook.   Yes I said Nazi pla...

Clearing out the In Box: ·          Remember the great crusade form the Bush Administration that was going to bring Democracy to the Middle East?   Specifically, Bush and his neocons were high fiving themselves for overthrowing Saddam Hussein and establishing ‘free and fair’ elections.   It’s too early to say how things will turn out, but I have to wonder if the new bosses are any better than the last boss.   The Shia dominated government has already started purging its Sunni members and now the militant Islamic Shia leaders of the government’s Interior Ministry have tacitly supported roaming death squads who operate out of the Shia ruled enclave of Bayaa as they set out to beaten and kill emo-teenagers: male and female long haired teenagers who wear tight western jeans and listen to western music.   To date over a dozen teenager shave been stoned to death and others have been beaten.   No wonder the Kurds keep to themsel...

First stop Israel.   Having completed another successful and thoroughly enjoyable visit to the promised Land, I leave you with these observations: ·          While Prime Minster Netanyahu and the Republican Party, especially it’s candidates for president, like to bang the war drums for an attack on Iran, the citizens of Israel go along with their daily lives.   People running on the beach, restaurants packed, pubs are lively, and the traffic could choke a Targaryen   dragon. ·          I will never complain about traffic anywhere, after witnessing the crazy bumper to bumper snarls heading into Tel Aviv from all directions every morning.   Pure mishegas. ·          It’s good to be the king, or at least a government minister.   A semi-serious joke going around the country is the reason why war is not imminent with Iran is because Madonna is sc...

The battle of between ideologues, the war of words, he said/she said, the blame game, government’s too big/too small, who’s right/who’s wrong, and so forth and so on.   Americans love to take sides, other than Israelis, who will argue about anything, we love to debate and deliberate.   Unfortunately, we all too often take it to a win at all costs level resulting in a zero sum game.   When that happens, society becomes a Sunday Talk Show: point counter-point people shouting over one another and we are left with nothing but noise.   Not only must we win, we must vanquish and embarrass.    And now sadly too many of us are getting our information from cable news, which is really entertainment poorly veiled as news.   Sadly, SNL foretold the future decades ago during its Weekend Update segment ‘Point Counter-Point’ featuring Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd: ‘Jane you ignorant slut.’ Accountability versus Blame When Gisele Bundchen in a moment of frustration d...

Tuesday Top Ten 1.        Egyptian Minister of Parliament (MP)Anwar al-Balkimy of the ultraconservative Islamist al-Nour party was forced to resign in disgrace after it was uncovered that he got a nose job, a violation of the Islamist party’s position on plastic surgery. 2.        This priceless outstanding paragraph comes from Gary Wills and the NYR Blog titled “Santorum’s Arrested Development”:   “ At some point, late or early, children disengage themselves from the stories crafted for them. Their loss of belief in the tooth fairy is only slightly behind their loss of teeth. There is a slow motion race to disappear between Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. The Stork undergoes, for some, a lengthier demise—and “the birds and the bees” do not long outlast it. Others, I hope, soon disabuse themselves of belief in their parents’ infallibility. Certain religious myths are discarded without necessarily losing faith. That I d...

A little weekend recap ·          I was saddened to see that Lynn ‘Buck’ Compton passed away on February 25 th .   Compton was an officer in Easy Company, 2 nd Battalion, 506 th PIR, 101 st Airborne Division, the unit immortalized in the Stephen Ambrose Book and HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. Compton was portrayed by current Justified actor Neal McDonough. Later in life Compton was the DA in the trial of Robert Kennedy assassin Sirhan B. Sirhan.      The Greatest generation has lost another lion. ·          The Knicks are now in the midst of a five game linless streak and are looking linept at times, media is now lindifferent. ·          Remember when the Obama administration was faced with the daunting task of trying to prove that the economy would have been worse off without the stimulus?   While most economists agreed that was true, ...

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) February Employment Situation report came out on Friday, march 9 th .   While typical focus is usually on the number of jobs added and the unemployment rate, me being such a wonk decided to drill baby drill deeper into the numbers.   Here is a non-economist’s assessment: The Basics: ·          227,000 private sector jobs were added in February ·          The unemployment rate remained at 8.3%.   Six months ago, the rate was 9.1% ·          There are 12.8million unemployed persons (relatively unchanged) ·          Unemployment by key demographics (all showing little or no change) o    Adult men: 7.7% o    Adult women: 7.7% o    Teenagers: 23.8% o    Whites: 7.3% o    Blacks: 14.1% o    Hispanics: 10.7% o ...